Welp, Russell Brand will have a lot of time to sit and think about his past actions as he starts a decade-plus behind bars.
RELATED: Russell Brand Taken Into Custody After Rape Conviction as Judge Denies Bail
The disgraced British comedian and Hollywood actor was sentenced Monday to ten and a half years in prison for raping a woman in 2009 and sexually assaulting three others. The 51-year-old stood in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court while Judge Joel Bennathan laid out exactly who he believed Brand was.
The judge treated it as a pattern. Bennathan told Brand he showed a “casual and arrogant disregard” for any woman’s right to say no to him, and he tied those crimes directly to the comedian’s rise to stardom. He described Brand as a predator who believed “fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked.” Whew!
Now, as we previously reported, the jury wasn’t unanimous in its view of every accusation. Brand was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and the assaults included grabbing the breasts of an ex-MTV staffer in 2004 and putting his head in the groin of a former Channel 4 employee in 2009. But he was cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. Prosecutors had said he could face up to 15 years for the rape count alone, so the sentence landed well inside that ceiling.
His defense team tried to soften the blow before the judge spoke. Lawyer Ian Winter KC told the court his client was a “fundamentally different person today” than he was when the rape took place 17 years ago, and he characterized the offense as a lapse in respect for consent rather than a sustained campaign. The judge wasn’t swayed. Brand, who has always insisted every encounter was consensual, claimed to be the victim of a media conspiracy, and he leaned hard into his newfound Christianity throughout the process. He was seen clutching a crucifix in court, a detail that did little to move anybody inside that room.
One victim told the court how the assault warped her sense of worth, saying she lost love for herself for a long time, believing she was “damaged goods.” Another said the abuse “has had a lasting impact on my life” even though she had tried to bury it. The rape survivor also spoke to the power imbalance at the heart of the case, explaining that Brand’s fame made her doubt anyone would believe her.
There was also a quick reality check on bail. After Thursday’s verdict, Brand asked to stay free so he could see his children, but the judge refused. “I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” Bennathan said, but the hardship came from “serious criminal offending by their father.” Brand has been at HMP Wandsworth since the verdict.
For a man who spent years selling himself as a truth-teller and a rebel against the system, Monday’s ruling was the system answering back.